With J.J. Abrams Star Trek Into Darkness now playing around the world, we recently landed an exclusive phone interview with Damon Lindelof.  During the interview, the Into Darkness screenwriter/producer talked about making the sequel, the length of the first cut, deleted scenes, how the beginning of the film changed during the editing process, whether an extended cut of Into Darkness will be on the Blu-ray, when a third film could possibly get made, and a lot more.  Hit the jump for what he had to say.

While everyone associates Bad Robot with J.J. Abrams, he actually has a producing partner that rarely does press and usually stays out of the limelight: Bryan Burk.  If you look over his IMDb profile, you’ll see he’s tremendously involved in all Bad Robot productions and was a key component in both Star Trek and Star Trek Into Darkness.

With the movie getting ready to premiere around the world, I recently landed an exclusive interview with the busy producer.  During our wide-ranging interview, we talked about making the sequel, the editing process, the secrecy, the title, if we’ll get Star Trek 3 in less than four years, whether a new Star Trek TV show could happen in the near future, and more.  We also talked about other Bad Robot productions like Star Wars, Mission: Impossible 5, Infinitely Polar Bear,  Person of Interest, Revolution, Alfonso Cuaron‘s pilot Believe, Karl Urban‘s pilot Almost Human, and more.  Hit the jump for what he had to say.

As the release of director J.J. Abrams’ sequel Star Trek Into Darkness, the filmmaker is understandably going to be inundated with questions about Star Wars: Episode VII.  While we will likely see all kinds of evasions and non-answers from Abrams while on the publicity circuit (and again, understandably so), the director recently sat down with the folks at Playboy for an extended interview, and it’s probably more revealing than anything you’re going to see in the coming months.  Abrams discusses his approach to Episode VII and how much input he has into the story, the possibility of him directing Star Trek 3, and even Cloverfield 2 and the prospect of an Alias movie.  Hit the jump to read on.

We’ve got a few smaller bits of Star Trek-related goodies to share this evening.  Two new images from director J.J. Abrams’ sequel Star Trek Into Darkness have landed online, giving us new looks at Kirk (Chris Pine) and Spock (Zachary Quinto) as well as Kirk and the villainous John Harrison (Benedict Cumberbatch).  Speaking of villainy, following numerous back and forth reports and rumors regarding the nature of Cumberbatch’s character, Into Darkness star Alice Eve recently spoke up to claim that Cumberbatch is “not playing Khan.”

Moreover, Simon Pegg also recently made a few headlines with some red carpet comments, as he spoke about the prospect of Abrams returning to direct Star Trek 3 in lieu of the filmmaker’s impending Star Wars: Episode VII duties.  Hit the jump to read on.

A question that has stunted many philosophers and scholars throughout the ages—who will direct Star Wars 7?—was finally answered earlier this week with the news that J.J. Abrams will be taking the helm of the new Star Wars film.  The revelation was met with an even amount of joy, outrage, and confusion by the fan community, as one man will now be crossing the streams of Star Wars and Star Trek.

With anticipation for Abrams’ sequel Star Trek Into Darkness at a fever pitch (and the film poised to do big, big box office), Paramount is likely eager to get a third Star Trek film into production sooner rather than later.  The studio’s vice chairman has now spoken up to ease fans’ concern over Abrams’ other franchises, clarifying the filmmaker’s role in Star Trek 3 and Mission: Impossible 5 going forward.  Hit the jump to see what he had to say.

Although the Untitled Star Trek Sequel is still almost a year away and doesn’t even have an official title yet, screenwriter Damon Lindelof is looking toward a possible third movie.  Lindelof is quick to say that a trilogy is not a “foregone conclusion,” but he also expects to be involved in a third film if he should be so lucky.  In a recent interview, Lindelof also talked about the character dynamics of the Star Trek crew, the logistics of shooting Star Trek 2 in 3D and IMAX and where how he thinks the franchise will move forward before he and director J.J. Abrams step aside to allow someone else’s interpretation.  Hit the jump to see what he had to say.